Board games and other adaptations
Due in part to its longevity and in part to its simple play-along factor, Wheel of Fortune has received many board games by way of various companies. Unless otherwise noted, gameplay is of the play-for-cash syndicated version with no Bonus Round. For the video game adaptations released since 1986, see Video games. Milton-Bradley (1975) Milton-Bradley issued two versions, each containing an instruction/puzzle book with 168 puzzles, Milton-Bradley Bucks (play money), a 30-space puzzle board, a large supply of cardboard letters, and a spinner representing the Wheel. The puzzle on the First Edition cover is LADY MACBETH, while the Second Edition uses KING RICHARD (albeit with a different font); both puzzles have the A's/I's, respectively, replaced with the green-glitter trilon side on the box cover, but are intact on the instruction booklet. The box art for these games show a host who somewhat resembles Chuck Woolery, but isn't (Susan Stafford mentions in her book that Milton-Bradley paid her $500 for her image on the box cover); they also feature the color-coded contestant displays. The instruction booklet shows a similar picture with a different Wheel angle and several prizes to the right of the puzzle board. Gameplay Much like the NBC version at the time. Puzzle categories in at least the First Edition are Event, Fictional Character, Landmark, Person, Phrase, Place, Thing, and Title. The play money is used to keep score during each round. Unlike subsequent versions, there are no pre-made puzzle cards; the puzzles are instead listed in the instruction booklet, with the host placing them into the puzzle board letter by letter; this setup also allows for custom puzzles. Also unlike subsequent versions, there is no Used Letter Board. Shopping is represented by a deck of 20 prize cards: three $100, two $200, one for each $''x''00 value from $300-$1,700 (minus $1,300), and a single $3,000 prize. Gift certificates are marked by the player putting his/her remaining money on their prize cards, while not doing so is "on account". There are four Free Spins, represented on cards much like the prizes. Wheel Unlike subsequent versions, the Wheel does not use its standard fonts and appearance. While the color scheme mostly matches that seen on June 7, 1976, the special spaces do not use their original look (seen on the cover): Bankrupt is green, Free Spin is light blue, Lose A Turn is orange, and Buy A Vowel is yellow. The layout, starting from Bankrupt and going clockwise, is Bankrupt-$500-$175-$300-$200-$500-$125-$100-$300-$200-Free Spin-$100-$200-$150-$450-Lose A Turn-$100-$275-$200-$150-Buy A Vowel-$100-$250-$100. Pressman (1985-91) Pressman released five "regular" editions, a Junior Edition, and two Deluxe Editions. Each version contains a 33-space puzzle board (referred to as "Conceal-N-Reveal"), a Wheel spinner card, a Used Letter Board with dry-erase crayon, and play money in denominations of $50, $100, $200, and $500. The Free Spin cards are replaced by a group of tokens which more closely resemble their TV counterparts. The Wheel itself has a red dollar-sign spinner and now actually resembles its TV counterpart, with top dollar of $750. The layout is Bankrupt-$750-$250-$300-$200-$100-$500-$400-$300-$200-Free Spin-$100-$200-$150-$450-Lose A Turn-$400-$250-$200-$150-$400-$600-$250-$300. The individual letter cards are replaced by 24 large puzzle cards with four puzzles on each (96 puzzles total), which slot into the top of the puzzle board. The category display is on top, and the spaces used for the puzzle are underlined; the instruction manual helpfully outlines which spaces to reveal. Players who incorrectly solve a puzzle are "locked out" for the rest of the round and lose all their money. The player with the most money after four rounds is the winner. Players may also keep their Free Spin tokens until the game is over. If a player wins a round with less than $250, their total is augmented to that "house minimum". The regular versions also each came out in a Travel Edition to look similar to their boxed counterparts. The Fourth and Fifth Editions each show part of the Round 1 template on the front and sides of the box, though the Fourth also includes the puzzleboard with title (as seen on the first three regular editions and both Deluxe Editions). Junior Edition Pressman's Junior Edition, released in 1987, has a rainbow-colored puzzle board and play money denominations of $100, $200, and $500. The Wheel itself has a blue dollar-sign spinner (red on the cover) and values in $100 increments, with a top value of $700; this results in vowels being $200, which is also the "house minimum". The layout is Bankrupt-$700-$100-$300-$200-$100-$500-$400-$300-$200-Free Spin-$100-$200-$300-$500-Lose A Turn-$400-$300-$200-$100-$400-$600-$400-$300. Deluxe Editions Pressman's Deluxe Editions (the first released in 1986) have more puzzles, a money tray, a replica of the Wheel with a single flipper which spins much like on the show, and play money denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. As the game progresses, the host adds new wedges ($500, $900, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, and Bankrupt) to the Wheel; while the instructions give suggestions as to their placement, the host can place them in any manner on the Wheel (or not use them at all). This allows for many possible layouts, including one with three consecutive four-digit values and a double-width Bankrupt. The Deluxe Edition boxes are mostly identical. The back of each shows a prototype with the regular-edition play money denominations and extra Wheel wedges of $1,000, $1,500, $2,000, and $2,500; the front shows a smaller cropped version of the photo from the first 3 regular editions, plus a small photo of the Wheel replica, with the text "Featuring an Authentic Replica of the Wheel". The side photos show a colorful photo of the game's contents. Tyco/Mattel (1992, 1998) Tyco created two editions in 1992 with Vanna White on the box, along with a Travel Edition; Mattel reproduced them in 1998. Each edition contains the same contents and rules as the regular Pressman versions, albeit with 50 puzzle cards. The Wheel resembles the Pressman Deluxe Editions, and the front and side box art features Vanna and the Wheel with Round 4 template. Parker Brothers (1999) The Parker Brothers rendition also resembled the Pressman games, with 96 puzzles. The Wheel is smaller, with less wedges, but spins much like the Deluxe Editions. The image on the box front and sides shows the 1996-98 bare Round 1 template with the yellow $1,000, however two purple spaces have different colors than in-show ($500 is blue, while $600 is peach). Pressman (2002-) Pressman currently holds board game rights to Wheel, typically using very similar parts to their first era. So far, there have been: * Three regular editions (the first two using a 30-space puzzle board; Third Edition released in 2009). * The Simpsons Edition (2004), followed by a Deluxe Edition tin containing another 24 puzzles. * Silver-Anniversary Edition (2007), celebrating the syndicated run's 25th year. * Disney Edition (2008), based off the 1987 Junior Edition and styled after the 1980s Deluxe Editions, complete with extra wedges. A Deluxe Edition was subsequently released with a different cover and more puzzles. * Deluxe Edition (2009), similar to their first set minus the extra wedges. Originally, the Wheel used the respective then-current Round 4 layouts with $5,000 as top dollar; the layout has since become stagnant and outdated, failing to adapt Free Play and include the second Bankrupt. Endless Games (2008) Released a Wheel card game as part of the "Quick Picks" line. The game contains 30 Wheel cards, 100 puzzle cards (each containing three puzzles and a Bonus Round puzzle), five Bonus Round prize cards ($25,000, $30,000, $40,000, $100,000, and a car), a wipe-off puzzle board, a wipe-off scoreboard, a dry-erase marker, and a 10-second sand timer. Strangely, the scoreboard includes a column for the yellow $1,000 wedge, despite the fact that there is no such card in the game and the wedge itself had not been present on the Wheel in any form since the 1999 Parker Brothers game. Wendy's/Oldemark (2011) A set of five toys offered through kids' meals from April 11-May 15, containing the game and a puzzle card for a contest on the week of May 23. As with many kids' meal toys in recent years (especially those with fewer items to collect), unopened full sets were readily available for purchase on eBay. While "Portable Game" uses the Round 4 Wheel layout (minus Free Play), "Spin to Solve" and "Wheel on the Go" use a somewhat different layout with letters above each cash value, a top dollar of $900, and Free Play represented by Free Pick (using the color scheme of Lose A Turn and the letter format of the Free Spin wedge). Notably, there are two Free Pick wedges on the Wheel, the first non-Bankrupt special space to do so since 1975. The layout is Bankrupt-$600 (A or E)-$400 (Vowel)-$300 (B or C)-Lose A Turn-$800 (T)-$350 (P or V)-$450 (O)-$700 (N)-$300 (Q or R)-$600 (I)-Free Pick-$600 (A or E)-$500 (H)-$300 (D or L)-$500 (F)-$800 (X or Z)-$550 (U)-$400 (Vowel)-$300 (M or G)-Free Pick-$500 (S)-$300 (J or K)-$900 (W or Y). Most of the letter-to-wedge assignments appear to be arbitrary, minus two: the pink $300 next to Free Pick, the only one which does not present its choices in alphabetical order, offers the initials of Merv Griffin and/or M.G. Kelly. The other, $350, offers the first initials of Pat Sajak and Vanna White. 3-in-1 Card Game A 32-card deck containing four each of $300, $400, $500, $600, $700, $800, $900, and Wild Card (its only appearance). The instructions contain rules for Match Play (a truncated version of UNO), Wheel War (a version of War), and Hi-Lo Solo (Card Sharks, but with the ability to guess "tie"). Portable Game Of the five toys, the closest to the show. Contains the spinner, 10 double-sided puzzle cards (with categories of Food & Drink, Living Thing, Person/People, Place, and Thing{s}), a four-letter puzzle board (attached to the spinner), and instructions on how to play Classic Play (just like the show) and Four Spins to Win (try to get as much money as possible in four spins). Spin to Solve Includes a crayon, two dry-erase scorecards, and instructions on how to play Word Race (collect letters to spell 3-, 4-, or 5-letter words; most money after three words wins) and Solo Word Builder (spell a 3-letter word before accumulating $2,000). The spinner uses a push-button process. Toss-Up Game Contains a blue, arrow-shaped light-up device with a red Wheel of Fortune button, a set of "cards" with various letters and dollar amounts (plus Wendy's Wild Cards), and instructions for Buzz Words (flip over cards until a 3+-letter word is visible, then hit the red button), Match 'em Up (flip two cards to try and get the same background pattern {or dollar amount}), and Speed Match (a solo version of Match 'em Up). "Buzz Words" may be an indirect reference to "Buzzword", a Wheel car cue composed by Merv. Wheel on the Go Contains a basic round spinner (spun like Pressman's Deluxe Editions) and instructions on how to play I See It! (find an object that starts with the letter you spun; alternately, the letter and color), Build-a-Word (try to make your preselected 3- or 4-letter word before your opponent), and Color Match (spin 10 times to match the color you spun beforehand). Category:Lists